Walking Dead 1. The walking dead

_Hello all,_

_I promised a Rick Grimes fanfiction. I love Rick Grimes. I love his character. And I really want to play around with him on this fiction, hehe. _

_I had written one but it wasn't to my liking. I am not even sure if I like this one necessarily.  
>I've chosen to approach this differently. It will take me a few chapters to come close to Rick and evolving in that part. It actually takes me a few chapters to get into the group with Rick.<br>If you don't like that then find another story. I just want to try and be creative. _

_If you want to be a beta reader then please let me know, I think I need one, especially for this story. _

_Let me know what you think. The more reviews the quicker I seem to update. ;-)_

_Kisses!_

Chapter 1 – _The walking dead _

Everything apart from the crunching of their shoes and the heavy breathing coming from Ruth, was silent. And usually that would have been a good sign but after the last couple of days it was uncomfortable. And they were all waiting for a moment it went completely to shit again.

They were all lost in their own thoughts while trying to keep track of any potential danger around them. Alex was the one making the decisions and the others followed without a lot of hesitation.  
>They needed someone calling the shots, who otherwise would?<p>

Taylor wasn't emotional stable. He had lost his wife the day they were forced to take the threats seriously. If Alex and Anne hadn't seen her walking up to them in the middle of the street, trying to take a bite of Alex, they all would probably still be in denial.

Anne wondered if it was her fault that they didn't take the radio and television news seriously. But it hadn't sounded all that serious either. There probably _was _a virus. But as a dentist working in the hospital she hadn't heard of any cases in that particular hospital so Alex, the surgeon there and Taylor the neurosurgeon told her that it probably was an out-break somewhere else. And then when people started talking about dead people rising and eating other people they just laughed it off.

Taylor and Alex had dismissed the possibility straight away. Especially Taylor was fierce in defending his point. He, as a neurosurgeon just knew that there was not one possibility of dead people rising. Once the brain was dead, nothing could keep the internal organs alive but a machine. And what need would a dead people feel to eat other dead people? It was just a hoax, a story that got out of hand, first a virus and suddenly they were dealing with the walking dead. It made both the boys laugh out loud.

But if she would've made more of point out of it. If she would've listened to the people around her, some of her co-workers. Wynona, the nurse who had to get on an airplane home quickly because her mother was bitten by something. It all made sense now.

Then there was Ruth, Dave and Leona. Family Peterson had somehow survived against all odds. Anne kind of looked at this in a way of survival of the fittest almost as they were making their way to Alex and Anne's house; they were next door neighbors and next to Anne lived the family Peterson. And while Alex had to bash in skulls as they heard on the radio was their only form of protection, suddenly Ruth, Dave and Leona ran from their backyard into him. Anne hadn't even thought about checking up on them since the only survivors they had seen since it all seemed to have exploded in their faces in one day, were already packed in cars and driving towards Atlanta, Fort Benning or New Orleans. Dallas, Texas and Fort worth were of limit they were told; it was overrun already.

"Shhh" suddenly Alex hissed through the silence and they all stood still.

"What? What did ya hear?" Ruth hissed in a frenzy pushing her husband to the side and making her way towards Alex. Anne grabbed her arm quickly pulling her back harshly.

"Alex was giving you a nicer way to shut the fuck up, so do it or I'll knock your ass out" Anne hissed to the woman, her impatience showing clearly. Her survival was depending on this group and Ruth was most certainly not getting in the way.

Ruth was an overweight woman in her 50's. She didn't work out regularly and she didn't eat always healthy as she enjoyed a passion for baking. It wasn't the best qualities to surviving something which forces you to run from it.

A few hours ago they were still in possession of a vehicle. But as they were standing in traffic waiting for it to move very slowly, trying to get to New Orleans; they were soon forced to abandon it as hundreds of people before them started running the opposite direction. Leaving their cars behind and screaming bloody murder. Right after that they saw a whole lot of them walking dead coming their way and there was no other way but to leave their car behind as well.

"is it just the one?" Taylor asked Alex as they all huddled close together a little back into the bushes, as what was left of a woman came stumbling out of the woods.

Was it following them around?  
>And if she was following them around, were there more?<p>

Alex shrugged his shoulders but volunteered silently to step forward and ram his butcher knife through its skull. It fell to the ground and as Alex turned around Ruth gasped. Alex's face was covered in splutters blood running down his neck into his black t-shirt.  
>Anne stepped forward quickly, pulling a towel out of her backpack and placing it on Alex's face. For some reason the look of the handsome man covered in blood, was just too confronting. She cleaned him off softly and didn't miss the heartbroken sigh coming from him.<p>

"Don't" Anne softly said scanning his face. He looked her in the eyes and bit his lip in frustration. "But I-" he spoke up but stopped as Anne placed a hand on his chest. "I know… I know, believe me. We all don't know how to make sense of all this. But if it weren't for you we wouldn't have come as far as we did right now. So just keep doing what you do. We'll have your back, and don't over-analyze this situation. It's a hard thing to do, from a medical point of view this just doesn't add up, I know, I really do…"

Alex sighed placing both his hands on his hips and looking at the others who were still huddled together.  
>It was a miserable position they were in. The only people who had any chance of actually arriving in Atlanta were Anne, Taylor and himself. But they were being held back by the family Peterson.<p>

Ruth had always been nice to Alex, always wanting to talk to him and know more about him. He used to wonder if it really was because she found him interesting or that she liked any attention of any man. Dave was always quiet and reversed. Oddly enough a lawyer and it made Anne and himself laugh hysterically at times as he would pretend to be submissive lawyer Dave. Leona was a 25 year old girl whom had been spoiled. She wanted to be a model someday but even though her parents believed it, everyone else could clearly see that she didn't really put much afford into becoming one. She had been pregnant three months before but had lost her child to a miscarriage and ever since then she had been a depressed mess.

It wouldn't be easy to get them over alive and all well but he would try, as long as he had the help of Taylor and Anne he might even succeed.

"We have to set up a camp soon." He said as he walked closer to his group. Smiling calmly at each of them but Anne saw right through it. She knew him well enough. Taylor seemed to notice too, as he placed a hand on Alex's shoulder and nodded his head in approval.

Alex was the only one level headed enough to show them the way. And he had already earned their respect for it. As Anne, Taylor, Ruth, Dave and Leona had been freaking out before Alex had been the one to make sure they all went the right direction. He had brought maps, and he had written down the list that the broadcasts were talking about. He had made a few choices and as New Orleans fell through he decided to head to Atlanta. Usually, driving from Jackson, Mississippi to Atlanta, Georgia, it would take 5 to 8 hours. And Anne wondered how long it would take doing it on foot...

"Camp?" Ruth asked looking around her. She seemed to notice for the first time in the past 12 hours that they were walking through a forest and there was no sign of civilization nearby.

"Yea, camp" Alex confirmed "It would be unsafe walking in the dark. We'd never know what would come our way. If we'd make camp and take turns to watch for dangers…. Perhaps we'd make it through the night without too much hassle"

Taylor nodded his head in agreement. "We'd be better off if we walked up hill a bit though… Seeing it coming quicker" he tried, thinking with Alex. And Alex too agreed.

"But we don't have tents, nothing!" Ruth exclaimed, just a few seconds away from blowing into a full panic attack once again. "I have sleeping bags, I brought three…" Anne offered looked at Taylor and Alex in hopes for one more so they'd all be sleeping warm tonight.

"Well, I'll be taking first watch, that way you can make use of my bag, Anne. Then after three hours I'll switch with Taylor, sleep in his, and like that we trade" Alex offered straight away. She had never seen him like that before. He was a good friend to her, but she never really noticed his talent of thinking in solutions; he probably had been good in it all along otherwise he wouldn't have been a surgeon. But as he shone through as a good man, taking action and taking the lead in this, she couldn't help but feel proud of him.

Ruth wanted to say more but one glare coming from Anne she pressed her thin lips together and kept quiet.

Ruth and Anne always were alright together. She didn't know Ruth too well but she didn't mind her company. And it seemed the same the other way around. Ruth always baked chocolate chipped cupcakes for her and Anne would eat all 10 of them in one evening if she'd be on her period.

But Ruth was a complainer. It hadn't been that annoying when they were having conversations from time to time, but right now, when no one had time for complaints, it started to push Anne further towards the edge. The only thing they could do was move forward, in hopes of getting to Atlanta as quickly as possible to find other survivors. To hopefully be able to pull through all this until there was a cure.

But as she lay down that night, in Alex's army printed sleeping bag she wondered if they would ever arrive in Atlanta.

Alex and Taylor both had a gun, as they had been to the shooting range every two weeks on Friday night, they knew how to handle a gun. They were strong, fit and obviously were prepared to do whatever they had to, to get to Atlanta breathing. Even though Taylor had lost his wife, he had not given up on his will to live.

And even though Anne was psychically in condition; she jogged a lot with Alex, and always went to the gym with both of them after their shifts at the hospital, she had never touched a gun. She didn't know how to fight as she never had to. She stared at the hammer that she lay close to her head in case she'd need it. But if she really did need it, would she be able to? Could she kill someone?


	2. Life and Death

Chapter 2 – _Life and death_

"Goddamnit Ruth! Run!" Taylor yelled fisting the woman's jacket in his hands and lifting her up forcefully. Anne looked back towards them taking her hammer in her hands as Taylor continued to push Ruth forward towards one of the houses down the street.

"Come on, Ruth!" he yelled again as he held out his gun and shot one of the dead in its brain, and it collapsed to the ground hard.

Anne ran forward taking the hammer in her hands and ignoring Alex's frantic calls as he lead Dave and Leona into the abandoned looking house.

"Go Alex! We'll catch up!" Anne told him as she hit one of the dead with her hammer, smashing its brain to pieces, but it kept coming, she hit it again, and again and then once more for reassurance and it dropped dead to the ground. There were about 15 more following, but for now Ruth and Taylor were out of danger and Taylor kept forcing Ruth to stand up and walk.

"Anne, take it" Tyler hissed through his teeth, as he tried to catch his breath, his blonde hair sticking to his forehead, as he kept trying to pick up the heavy woman and getting her to safety. Anne grabbed the large hunting knife he offered her and started her way towards the group without really thinking.

She smashed her hammer in one head and pushed the knife in the brain right after she took her hammer out, quickly and she watched another slump to the ground, spraying the disgusting smelling substance of old blood on her shirt.  
>This would've been number 17 she killed. Just to think that 2 days ago she was wondering if she ever could do it.<p>

"Anne!" Taylor yelled, and she turned around to watch a reasonable sized male stumbling his way over to the pair. Taylor had thrown Ruth over his shoulder and his gun lay on the ground before him. She ran towards them. She wanted to pick up the gun and place it back into Taylor's hand but there was no time, so she ran towards the man, whistling to catch it attention and it turned away from the pair.

"Anne! Anne, come on!" "Go, go! Now! I'll catch up, get Ruth to safety!" Anne yelled walking backwards. She heard groans coming closer and suddenly realized that, even though she had cleared the way for Taylor to get to the house, the big guy was forcing her towards the rest of the group of walkers. There was no way she could handle more than one or two.

She turned to her right only to find three more and panic made her heart thumb just a little faster. But her mind became clearer and she jumped to her left, sprinting past the thick male towards the house, but just as she thought she had passed him, her long black hair suddenly pulled against her skull, and she dropped on her back. The force taking all the air from her lungs.

She looked up as the fat man bended over her, dropping himself to his knees and she closed her dark eyes waiting for the moment her life would end in agony.

A shot resounded through the air and she realized that all sound had been drowned out by her for those 2 seconds as though her body was ready to give up. "Anne!" She heard Alex's voice shout at her and she quickly grabbed the arm that extended towards her. She couldn't stand up, but Alex started to drag her towards the house, all the while shooting the dead. Taylor soon stood by his side shooting as well, keeping her safe.

As they reached the house, Alex all but threw her inside and Taylor quickly closed the door, together they barricaded the door with a huge closed which seemed heavy. Anne quickly stood up to help, but her brain turned foggy at the quick movement and she slumped back against the wall.

Dave unexpectedly came to their aid and with the three of them they pushed it in front of the door, just as the first walkers hit the door. They weren't out of the woods yet. Anne saw a hand smash through one of the windows, which thankfully was quit small and it should take them awhile to climb through. Meanwhile Ruth had finally caught her breath and Taylor threw Alex Anne's backpack, who threw it over his shoulder, holding his gun in front of him for threats coming from the inside. Taylor picked Anne up with ease, who thankfully was a lot less heavy then her old neighbor.

They ran up the stairs and Alex kicked open a bedroom door, but at the same time one of the dead came walking out, its arms spread in front of him, making Ruth scream frantically, stepping back into Taylor, who almost dropped Anne down the stairs.

Alex didn't waste a moment and hit it against its head with his flashlight, repeatedly, with all the strength he could muster. Once the walker dropped to the ground he stomped his head in with his heavy working boots. And to think that Taylor had thought it was a waste of time for him to put those on when they had been packing up necessities.

He walked into the room but quickly got back out. "We need the master bedroom" Alex declared with certainty and started walking towards the right.

Anne looked over Taylor's shoulder to the other end of the hallway. The darkness surrounding them as the sun had gone down hours ago. But she wasn't mistaken when she saw another dead woman walking their way. Her jaw seemed dislocated and for a moment Anne thought she was hallucinating, it looked so unbelievable unreal.

"Taylor" she hissed "Taylor, behind us!" she then yelled as Taylor was unresponsive and the woman came closer and closer. Alex resolutely stepped next to them, and she watched as he raised his gun and shot its head with practiced eased.

She looked at her friend who had made such changes in the last 2 days. He was determined to stay alive and to keep them alive. He was giving it his all and he seemed to have turned off everything else. Without emotion he pushed the gun back in the backside of his pants and glanced at Anne briefly before moving.

"We've rallied them up now, with the noise from that shot, we need to get the fuck out of here" Alex spoke with authority and no one questioned him. He opened another door and stepped in without hesitation, everyone followed him.

Taylor placed Anne on the king size bed that stood there, in the middle of the room. Immediately turning to Alex's aid as he started pushing a large closet, filled with clothing in front of the door. Which wasn't easy, the thing almost fell forward was it not for Dave to once again step up, and catching it. Together they placed it in front of the door and stepped back. Everyone held their breath, but it was unsettling quiet.

After a few minutes Alex turned around and looked at his friend laying on the bed. He knelt down next to it and pushed his flashlight on. It was a miracle it was still working after the blows it had received earlier. He shone the light in both of her eyes, placed his fingers on her pulse and after a while seemed satisfied enough.

He lifted her up carefully and looked at the back of her head, pointing the flashlight at it to search for any injuries but finding none on the surface.

"I'm alright Alex" Anne muttered. "My lungs were knocked out of air for a moment but I'm fine now. She convinced him and sat up by herself on the edge of the bed. Staring at the same door as the others did previously but it stayed quiet on the other side. It was rather strange.

"Someone should walk over the roof to the other side" Leona offered suddenly. "Then we can see if they actually made it inside or if they've continued on"

Alex looked the young girl over and then turned his gaze onto Taylor. Taylor just shrugged his shoulders.

"I'll do it even" Leona offered standing up on her two feet, patting imaginary dust off of her short cut-off jeans. Anne cleared her throat uncomfortably, turning to look at Alex and raising an eyebrow at him. It wasn't necessarily talked about but he had become their guidance without question.

"No, that's no good" Alex admitted finally, getting Anne's hint and taking the girls wrist in his hands before she started to climb out the window. He turned to look at Taylor and then at Anne. "There's no way to the top of that roof" Anne reasoned. "I could try and climb out the window but there's no way to go up from there."

Anne stood up and walked towards the window, leaning out of it to scale the walls but before they could even put their plan into action she heard the undeniable moaning and groaning underneath her. Looking down she saw two walkers trying to scratch their way through the kitchen window and she assumed it was a sign that the others of their little gang would be waiting at the other side.

She waved a hand at Alex who stepped forward and looked down as well, sighing in frustration and running a hand over his face.

Leona stepped forward as well and looked down at the two, mumbling something underneath her breath which no one paid attention to as Anne, Alex and Taylor were discussing a possible way out of there.

It was when Ruth screamed Leona's name that the three of them looked up and stared at the window where Leona first had been standing in front of. They all ran towards the window and watched as Leona had fallen into a pile of leaves and was now having a hard time stumbling away from the walkers. Anne whistled hard on her fingers in hope to regaining their attention but as though they knew she was high up they continued their pursuit after the young girl.

"What the fuck is that bitch thinking she's doing" Alex yelled out frustrated grabbing his gun from between his belt and pushing the closet away from the door together with Taylor whom threw a gun towards Anne. "Stay here, protect them" he yelled as both men disappeared through the door, throwing it close with a loud bang.

"Dave! Dave! No! Please!" Anne turned around and watched as Dave too, fell from the window in an attempt to help his daughter. Not entirely unarmed as he had grabbed Anne's hammer from the huge bed. But he landed poorly and fell on his arm, he screamed out in pain and for a moment Anne didn't know what to do.

"Please, please help them! Please Anne! Please help Leona!" Ruth yelled in Anne's ear. There was no clear thinking anymore and before she very well had processed the information Anne too, jumped from the window. She fell on her legs, with a loud 'oof' hissing through her teeth, she then fell forward and ended up doing a somersault to try and elevate the weight suddenly placed on her joints. It seemed to work, or it could be the adrenaline pumping through her veins but as she stood up she was able to walk properly.

Just as she was starting to make her way over towards Leona she heard Dave screaming for her from behind her. And as she turned around she saw him trying to fight of 2 of the dead, wherever they had come from. She aimed her gun but changed her mind quickly. She didn't know how to shoot!

She grabbed for her hunting knife but grabbed into air as she had left it laying on the bed. She cursed at herself, promising in that split mini-second to never leave her weapons somewhere behind again. She'd carry them with her always. "Ruth! Throw me the knife!"

She yelled at the frantically crying woman upstairs.

"Leona, Anne! Please! Leona!"

"Then throw me the knife!"

A silver sparkle reflecting from the moon fell through the air and next to her in the grass. She jumped forward and grabbed it. Looking behind her at a crying Leona standing against a tree, trying to make her way up there, but she failed miserably. Dave cried out Anne's name again and as she turned towards the man she decided she was closest to him.

She jumped on the back of the first walker throwing her knife through his ear making it slump down to the ground, it stopped fighting as she fell to the ground with it. Dave managed to kill one with the hammer and together they pushed the third into the wall and giving Anne the opportunity to drive the knife through the back of its skull.

As she turned around wanting to run for Leona, Leona just ran passed her frantically.

Anne looked for the walkers that did not follow Leona at all, as she pressed herself as close to the wall as she could, being held by Dave.

Anne stared at the group of walkers as none of them seemed to move towards them, but rather slumped forward as blood painted the grass beneath them. As she tried to process the moment Taylor ran towards her, taking her arm in his.

"Too late Anne, we gotta go! We gotta go now!" he yelled in her ear and Anne stared at him with wide eyes as realization dawned on her.

They weren't following Leona because they were eating Alex.


	3. the world gone mad

Chapter 3 – _the world gone mad_

Empty. Numb. Exhausted. Angry.

Her feet dragged forward as her mind was lost in a haze of emotions she couldn't place. She once gave it her all, to survive this ordeal. But now she wasn't so sure anymore if she even wanted to go on.

Her tears had ran dry eventually. They just didn't come no more. But the emptiness that her eyes portrayed was enough evidence to everyone that Anne was grieving Alex.

Her knife hung loosely in her hand as though she was even planning on protecting anyone if it would deem necessary. She probably wouldn't have seen it coming at all.

Taylor had for the time being, taken over the burden that had been on Alex before. He tried to navigate through the endlessness of trees but it was hard. Alex had a compass and a map; somehow he knew where they were even in the middle of nowhere.

Alex assumptions were that traveling far from civilization there'd be less walkers than traveling over a road or through towns. And he probably was right. But without civilization there hardly was any food around either. And they haven't had the time to find something to eat ever since they left Alex, but even worse, they didn't have much water left either. They've lost 4 bottles when Alex went down. Anne had 2 left and Taylor 1. They were careful with the amount they spent.

Family Peterson didn't complain though. And it surprised Anne. Since they've been walking for over 12 hours now, and only had a few very short breaks in which Taylor had to take out a walker or 2. Other than that they had been walking without food, without too much water.

Taylor had held up his hand in order to make everyone stop, but somehow Anne had missed the signal, walking straight into Dave's back. He turned and carried out a glare, but his expressions softened at the sight of Anne's exhausted and cried-out gaze, which only angered Anne even more.

She couldn't deal with them. They weren't pulling their weight, and in Ruth's case, she had a whole lot to make up for. They were protected, fed and taken care of, all by Alex, Anne and Taylor.  
>They had been on the road for 5 days or a week or 2, she wasn't completely sure, but they should've been more comfortable with walkers. They should've gotten used to it by now.<p>

But instead they still were panicking each time one made itself known.

Taylor waved towards Anne to come forward, and she did as he asked, never making eye contact with family. Taylor stepped forward slightly and Anne followed him.

"There" he whispered, pointing towards a small cottage. Probably a vacation home, which wasn't that uncommon. Some city folk spent their time in these kind of cottages on their breaks. Just fishing, swimming and enjoying the peace and quiet.

Anne nodded her head. "Yeah. That should suffice"

Taylor licked his lips holding his kitchen knife in front of him as he counted down the number of walkers dragging around in front of the small building. "6" Anne said looking at him. He dropped his hand, a frown on his face as he was calculating the possibility to avoid having to kill them but Anne already knew there wouldn't be.

"Let's just take them out, shouldn't be too much of a problem for the both of us." Anne said, feeling a lot less secure than she sounded. She blamed her sudden lack of will-to-live for it.

"Yeah, but the Peterson's will be with us, what if they get cornered?" Taylor reasoned as they conversed in hushed voiced. "Give Dave Alex's butcher knife and make him defend his family" Anne carelessly said, already wanting to walk forward towards the first walker but Taylor's sudden firm grip on her wrist stopped her. "Stop that act, it doesn't suit you" Taylor hissed at her sounding like her father. "Yeah, this whole world doesn't suit me, Taylor" her voice sounded thicker than she had anticipated but Taylor got the hint as he turned around, shaking his head, and tiptoed towards the family Peterson.

Anne stayed staring at the walker closest to her. It hadn't seen her yet, but Anne suspected it soon would if she stayed here. Yet she didn't move.

Alex had tried to find an explanation for this all.  
>Normally your heart stops, blood starts to cloth making you stiff within a few hours after death. You'll turn cold. The only thing that was correct; they were cold. Ice cold. But Alex refused to believe that they didn't have a heartbeat.<p>

The walker turned towards her, it used to be a woman. Maybe her age. Maybe she had children. Another thing Anne found typical; there were no baby walkers. Alex assumed they just hadn't ran into one yet but Anne thought they were just completely eaten. Just nothing left of them.

She didn't like to think about walkers as human beings, an identity. A mother, a father, a brother, a sister, a wife, a husband, she'd rather just give them nicknames. Walkers, dead, them, it. Alex didn't like her approach but it was easier to kill something that wasn't a name.

Anne stared into the white eyes of the walker, she didn't seem to really be observing her, as she turned right again without much thought. It probably hadn't seen her yet.

Suddenly Taylor appeared at her side again, placing a hand on her shoulder leaning forward a little. "Dave's got Alex's knife, but we are going to clear the way for them." There was a warning tone in his voice as though he wasn't sure he could trust her anymore. And somehow it made Anne feel regret for what she had said and felt earlier. She didn't want Taylor to think she wasn't to be trusted.

"Isn't it best if one of us trails behind" she offered "Just in case" Taylor stared at the group of walkers in front of him. "Yeah, maybe better" he admitted and stood up, taking the first walker out, which Anne had previously been staring at.

"Go" Anne ordered the family and pushed them forwards behind Taylor. Ruth and Leona held each other tightly as they followed Taylor as closely as they could, while Dave tried to help Anne, but merely stood in her way. She eventually pushed him forward to make things move faster and he stumbled a bit but regained his footing, following his wife and daughter into the cottage.

Anne closed the door quickly and right after that Taylor pushed a couch in front of it. They all fell silent for a little while to stare at the door, as though at any moment there'd be 100 of walkers falling through that door but nothing happened.

Anne was the first to walk away from the door and started investigating the kitchen. The cottage was small, the kitchen and living room all were one room, a small hallway to their right led to a bedroom with bathroom and next to that a door to a closet of some sort.

Anne was only interested in finding food. She scoped the cupboards but couldn't find anything useful. She opened the fridge but a rotting smell came her way and she gagged, closing it quickly. A fridge really could smell horrible after a week or so.

She was pulled from her train of thought as she suddenly heard screaming, she turned around and watched as a group of 5 walkers stumbled around Taylor took one out and Dave pushed one away from him, which Taylor also finished off. Two of them stumbled towards Leona and Ruth and they both women stared at it with wide eyes.

Anne ran towards the first one and kicked it's knee cabs. It landed flat on his face as it didn't possess the natural reflexes anymore and Anne took her knife out, pushing it in its head. At the same time another one dropped dead next to her and she watched as Taylor stood back up. "Anne!" Taylor suddenly yelled and she wanted to look up but before she could even do so, Taylor had brought up his gun and shot another walker through its brain. Anne fell forwards with the walker on top of her. The rotting smell was so present that she once again gagged. This was a completely different smell than what had come out of the fridge. This was far worse.

She pushed her hands underneath her trying to get up but failed. The walker was rather heavy, too heavy for her, as she once again pushed her hands to lift her body up. It took a few attempts and suddenly the walker rolled off of her. She stood up and looked around but was met with complete silence as she saw no one.

Had Taylor seriously left het behind?

The couch was still settled in front of the door so she started her way towards the bedroom. The room was empty as well, she even checked underneath the bed. She threw open the bathroom door but it revealed nothing as well and she started to panic slightly

The fact that they had run didn't really bother her; for their own survival it would've been good. That shot would ring the dinner bell for so many walkers she didn't even want to think about it. But the fact that she had to die alone was really unsettling.

She heard the loud banging against the door and even the couch moving over the floor, she knew that when they'd get in she'd be screwed. No one knew how many were in front of that door, and she wasn't experienced enough to survive more than 5. Hell, to survive more than 2 probably.

Suddenly the doorknob turned towards the bedroom and Anne stared at it in fear. She didn't realize that walkers didn't turn doorknobs at that point but when Taylor revealed himself she chuckled lightly at her stupidity.

"Oh god Anne, I'm so-" he didn't get to finish his sentence as they heard the breaking of glass. They stared at each other for 2 seconds before Taylor told her to follow.

They left the bedroom and turned right, the closet door next to the bathroom door, which, Anne figured out, was a broom closet. She stared at the small unoccupied room and didn't know what she would have to make of this. That was until Dave whistled from above her and she stared him in the face. A small attic space seemed to reveal itself and he held out his hands which she took. Taylor clasped his hands together and she put her foot in his hands and together they lifted her on top of the attic.

It was a small space, but enough for the 5 of them.

Anne quickly turned around and held out her hands for Taylor, which he took as well, together they lifted him up. Just as they heard something fall in the living room, a clear sign the walkers were inside. They were completely silent. The only thing breaking that complete silence, were the heavy sobs coming from Leona and the stumbling and breaking from the walkers. They had no idea how many there were, but for now didn't want to take the risk of looking.

The only thing Anne wondered about if they'd ever make it out of this attic. Favorably alive.


	4. And one day, you just change

_Please review? I need to know if I'm going into the right directions. There's a lot more surprises coming, which I already planned out secretly. I don't know if it is really a good story but I'm having a really good time writing it. I made a few ideas. I wanted to cross paths with a few 'walking dead' themed things….. I didn't want to just start of with our favorite group of survivors as I am trying to not make it boring by describing everything that happens in the show, but then with my characters in it.  
>But I need you guys to let me know if I'm doing it right. I can take criticism, as long as I can actually work with it. <em>

_I'm still looking for an active Beta reader. So let me know. _

Chapter 4 – _And one day, you just change_

The night had been reasonably alright on the attic. It was one of the safest places they had been since the dead started walking. The walkers in the house had no clue of their presence - Even Anne had actually slept for a few hours.

The day though, brought a completely different aspect to the safety of the attic. The sun high on the sky beaming on top of the roof made the heat was unbearable. Anne's black long hair was piled on top of her head, the strands falling out stuck to her neck and face. It was unbearably hot and with their small amount of water supply they couldn't stay dehydrated enough. Taylor was worried about that.

Anne stared at the empty space in front of her. Her thoughts going nowhere as she didn't try and think about the previous days. She still continued to worry about how long they had been traveling. She wasn't at all sure. It had to be a few weeks.

She was already sick of it.

Her lips were dry, her tongue was dry. She was exhausted and didn't know how long she'd be able to stay here. Taylor wasn't calling the shots and once again she missed Alex. He knew what he'd do.  
>What would Alex do in this situation? Probably check the house for any walkers. Try to find a way out.<p>

Taylor was not at that point yet. He didn't want to take out any of the dead. If they were an immediate threat, he'd take them out. But other than that he'd rather walk 5 miles further to find an empty hide out than clear one out that had three of them walkers.

Alex already seemed to realize it was survival of the fittest, where Taylor still thought he could save all of humanity. Maybe there was a cure; Anne didn't know, but for now she was healthy, and she was planning on staying that way, even if it meant doing horrible things.

"I'm so hungry" Ruth's weak voice traveled through the attic. It sounded more like a desperate moan than anything else. Her brown eyes found Ruth's blue once and immediately Ruth bowed her head and her shoulders shook as she started to cry.

"We're all hungry" Anne spoke after a few minutes of silence. Her voice scratchy and dry; it didn't sound like her own at all.

"Yes, maybe we should do something about that" Dave replied looking Anne directly in her eyes.

Anne frowned staring at the man in front of her. He seemed out of his comfort zone, trying to stand up for his family. He had torn off his blouse minutes before and wore nothing else but a white tank top.  
>Taylor didn't say nothing but sat put next to the hole, also, in only a tank top. His elbows resting on his knees, and his gun hanging loosely from his hands.<p>

Anne breathed in deeply through her nose, wiping it with the back of her hand, and then threw the knife she had held all this time, to Dave. It slipped across the floor towards his feet, and with a soft tut stopped against his, once beautiful neat, shoes.  
>Her brown eyes found his dark once.<p>

"Why don't you go find some?" she dryly commented.

"I'll go" Taylor immediately cut off whatever it was Anne and Dave were doing and stood, bending forward slightly on the small attic. The only light coming from small gaps between the wood that ran directly across his face. "I'll go" he repeated. "Check out the house, and try to find an escape route. I'll come back once I found something" he held up a hand to Anne carelessly as she opened her mouth. "You have to stay here to protect them if something happens to me.

"But Taylor you shouldn't go alone" Anne said angrily. "Protect them if something happens to me" Taylor repeated with a hint of authority as he slowly lowered himself through the attic entrance.  
>She watched Taylor leave the small built in closet and close the door behind him.<p>

She turned back towards the family, didn't say anything but gave them an annoyed glance. A tension hung in the air that made Anne suddenly aware that they were afraid of her. Afraid of Anne.  
>Dear old Anne, who couldn't hurt a fly in her life.<p>

She knew she was changed. She felt like she'd changed after what she saw. But she wasn't particularly dangerous; was she?  
>She had learned to kill walkers because she accepted them as what they were; walkers. Could she kill a human being without blinking?<p>

"I didn't do it on purpose" Leona suddenly spoke. Her voice shook, her cheeks were red as she too, was sweating heavily. She didn't look Anne directly in the eye but stared at the floor ahead of her. Anne waited for her to continue and almost wanted to slap her when she didn't immediately do so.

"I just… I just…. I've considered suicide" her voice was quiet and Anne stayed put as she too, stared at the floor ahead of her. "Before, I mean… I mean before all this went… whatever it is that happened. I've lose my baby and I didn't feel like living anymore. I just thought that, if I could lure them away far enough, and get eaten, it would help you all survive"

Anne bit her lip.  
>She bit her lip hard enough to draw blood. The metallic taste in her mouth seemed to satisfy her mouth, as it finally found some fluid.<p>

"What made you stop running" Anne muttered, finally looking up at the pretty young lady.

….. "I wanted to live"

"HELP!"

Anne quickly stood up as she listened intently at the sound that broke through the thick, very thick tension that had hung in the air before, staring at the hole in the ground.

There it was again, a call for help, a desperate one and she knew it came from Taylor.  
>She quickly picked up her knife which she had dropped near Dave, and fell the ground through the build-in closet.<p>

She opened the door harsh enough to knock a walker out had it been standing behind that door, and turned into the hallway. There weren't any dead there. She continued her way out the hallway into the large open room.

One of the dead stood with its back towards her, and she placed her right hand on its right shoulder, pulling it back towards her to give her enough room to shove the knife through its temple. It fell to her feet. She didn't pay it any more attention as her eyes searched the ground floor for Taylor.

She had an urge to call out but her natural instincts told her not to.

Suddenly she saw movement through the window and she turned left, watching as she saw Taylor fighting off a handful of walkers. She didn't know how many there were, but she didn't give herself time to let fear settle in, and she jumped over the couch and through the half open door towards the outside.

Why was the fool outside anyway?

She grabbed the hair of a woman who was snapping her jaws at Taylor as he tried to keep her on distance. Instead of pulling it towards her, a few strands of hair hung loosely from her hand. For just one second she felt grossed out but then quickly tossed it aside, pushing her knife through the back of her skull.

It was then that the other walkers were noticing her presence and came walking her way as well. Her eyes flickered from one to the other, as three of them were closing in.

It wasn't really as though your mind decided how you should do it. It just happened. As though there was some kind of chemical being released in your system, that made your instincts take over. Anne didn't think about what she was doing. She just reacted.

She took a step forward and kicked against the leg of a rather tall one, it fell to the ground easily and she kicked against its head. Her small sneakers were really not doing a lot of damage, so she took the risk of bending down and pushing her knife through its left temple.

She turned around hearing the moaning close to her ears, which made her feel some sort of desperation and before she very well understood how close its snapping jaws really were, she had pushed her knife through its head. Turning right she pushed another one away with her arms stretched forward, using all her strength and taking out that one as well.

Then she took a light sprint towards one that almost pushed its teeth into Taylor's warm flesh, jumped up and placed both her feet into its back. It fell forward fast but Taylor had already seen her coming, stepping back immediately. She fell to the ground with a large 'ooof' feeling all air getting knocked out of her. Taylor easily pushed his large kitchen knife into the brain taking it out, and extending a hand towards Anne, helping her up.

For a minute they just stared, heaving breath into their lungs and Anne already feeling every muscle hurting her arms and legs. They stared at the bodies surrounding them and Anne tried to remember when they had ever came across so many at the same time.

"We need to get the others" Taylor decided.

He pushed something in Anne's hand, speed walking back into the house. She looked at her right hand and stared at the silver gun that once belonged to Alex. Her thin eyebrows frowned together and she looked up frantically.

She kept it in her hand even though she wasn't even sure how to use it.  
>As if that wasn't enough she saw Taylor's laying not too far away from her; why didn't he have his gun on him?<p>

She took the few steps over towards the other silver one, which didn't look entirely similar like Alex's. Alex's had a few black accessories where Taylor's were brown. She really didn't know anything about guns and holding one made her feel nervous. What made her feel even more uncomfortable was knowing she was holding Alex's gun and she knew how panicky he was about inexperienced people touching his gun.

It didn't take more than a couple of minutes for them to walk back outside but Anne felt like she had been left alone for a life time. She felt relief settle in her stomach at the sight of Taylor and she quickly handed him the guns.

He refused Alex's gun though.

"Seriously, carry a gun. I don't care if you can't shoot. But if a moment deems it necessary I'd rather know you have a gun instead of nothing at all"

Taylor continued walking, while Anne stared at her hand, holding the gun. She had no idea how to use it. Alex always taught her guns weren't dangerous unless being held by hands that knew what they were doing.

"One more thing" Anne stopped him and he turned towards her expectantly. "I don't know how the safety works"

Taylor stepped back towards her and showed her how to flick the switch.

"And I'm making my own rule up here" she told him, looking him in the eyes. "No one, goes out alone ever again"


	5. At the bottom of everything

_**Let me point out that this story is not the one I was planning to write. The one shots and this story are complete separate. I am still heading in a certain direction and really love to push in a few details here and there. I hope some of you recognize a few characters in this chapter. Hihi. **_

_**Thanks for the reviews, I really appreciate it! It's only been good so far, which I am secretly really proud of. I have to say, I am getting slightly addicted because I am unbelievably excited about the direction I am trying to take this story.**_

_**I hope to follow a time-line which is correct, but I'll be quick to admit that there might be a few mistakes here and there. Just read. And please! Review! I'd love for you to do so…. **_

_**And if you want to be a beta reader please message me. I need one. **_

Chapter 5 – _At the bottom of everything_

"We're close to Columbus" Anne said, wiping her brow as she held the bloodied knife with the same hand.

Taylor shook his head in disagreement, frowning as he looked at the map Anne just found on a walker. It wasn't her first priority to search the bodies, but she saw it sticking out of the back pocket of one of them. The walker seemed fresh, too.

"Can't be" Taylor muttered, I was sure we followed the most direct way towards Atlanta, following the main road as closely as I could. If anything we're supposed to be near Birmingham." His dirty finger following the path he had created in his mind.

They were on the road for what seemed like ages. The heat was growing heavy, yet they continued their way. Trying to spent nights in abandoned houses or cars, favoring vans. They had made it a sort of ritual; food, water, a place to sleep and make their way towards Atlanta.

"No," Anne disagreed pointing to where they left Alex; which was the only certain point they had. "we traveled south instead of east for a while" Anne reasoned with him. They had found out when they suddenly found themselves in a small town near their old hometown, Jackson, Mississippi.

It was such a disappointment at the time, they had traveled the wrong direction for so long.

"We started traveling east since Paulding, our best bet would be Columbus" Anne reasoned with him.

"Anne" Dave spoke up suddenly earning the attention of them both.

A walker was stumbling their way towards the car they were leaning against. Taylor was planning on trying to make it run. They had had a car the day they left the attic, but it had run out of gas pretty quick. For a while they considered traveling with the open road instead of through the forests, but they found huge herds of them walkers making their way to them. It was unnerving. The first time they had jumped into different cars. They quickly decided to move back into the woods after that one.

Anne stepped forward and quickly took care of it, glancing at the three without much emotion. She had turned off her feelings of hatred and anger, of annoyance of their incapability to adapt. The only thing that startled her every now and then, was the miracle that they were actually still alive. How did Taylor and herself manage this? Unbelievable.

Taylor watched as Anne returned to the car without so much as shock written on her face. He on the other hand was worried about the easiness Anne took out these humans. It was a constant irritation between the two. Anne was resolute; the walkers were dead, and in order to survive she had to take them out. She took stuff, from cars and houses. Clothing, combat boots.

Where Anne had accepted the fact that she had to do everything she had to do to survive and get to Atlanta, Taylor still believed these beings were human, and he had to respect them.

"I'll go scout" Anne suddenly offered, looking up and finding Taylor staring at her. He did that a lot recently and Anne always knew what he was thinking; how could she so simply take a life without blinking an eye. Anne wondered about that too, but psychological problems would probably come up once she arrived in Atlanta and had time to think about the things she had to do.

"Scout?" Taylor asked looking at her.

"Yeah, walk up ahead, try to locate the next town I get to moving east. From there we can navigate to Atlanta much easier" Anne said, tying her hair in a low ponytail on the back of her head. He looked at her as if she had just lost her mind completely.

Very unexpectedly she took the bloodied knife, cleaned it on her jeans both sides, took her ponytail in her hands and cut it off right above the hairband. She held her long hair in her hands as though it meant nothing at all and tossed it away.

"Anne" Taylor started staring at her as her short hair fell over her ears. "You're not losing it right?" he continued as he took a glance at Leona's shocked face. Anne stared back at him before following his line of sight to Leona.

"No, I am not. I am sad about my hair, I loved it. But there's been walkers pulling on it three times already, I am not taking any risks anymore, and if I scout ahead alone, I am more quiet and quicker. Yet no one will be watching my back, so anyone could grab my hair" she explained louder, in order to let the family hear as well.

"If anything, I am afraid you all don't realize just how serious the situation has become. If there ever was a code black, this is it. Alarmingly black. Have you not noticed the lack of helicopters flying over recently? Meaning that the surviving party is lessening and there's no use in searching for them. Where is the army? Have you heard any gun fire recently? I find that it has been extremely calm the last few days." She turned towards the family to make her point come across. "And we arrived in that town a few weeks back, there was no one, nothing, it was empty. There are no sirens of ambulances or police cars anymore, the roads… All those empty cars… Isn't there any light bulb going off in any of your heads? My hair will grow back, but for now it is life and death, until we get into Atlanta, and to me, that is what matters most."

They stared at her in silence, Leona chewing her lip as a frown formed between het thin eyebrows. "You got to defend yourself. You got to learn how to use a knife. How to take down a walker, If you don't…." Anne didn't finish as she looked down at the ground with a frown herself. Letting the unspoken words linger in the air for a bit. Her eyes finding the pitch black pony tail laying in the grass, her bright red hairband still around it to keep everything together. It felt weird, light, against her head and she felt the wind blow across her neck. Yet she felt no regret. It didn't seem important at all anymore. It was just hair.

"I'll scout ahead. Meanwhile take safety in this car, try to find supplies. If I haven't returned in four days I'm dead, and you all need to move ahead alone… that alright?"

Everyone nodded without any resistance left. Their mind still boiling on Anne's speech from before. The woman had been quiet ever since Alex died and all of a sudden she came with words so heavy, it felt like they really did need to take it seriously.

Anne opened her heavy backpack and threw out a few water bottles, keeping two for herself. A can of beans and a few granola bars were hers, everything else she left behind. Taylor wanted to protest but as Anne stood up, lifting her backpack on her back, she send out a look towards him that was clearer than a thousand words.

And with that, she walked away from her group.

She had ran into little activity the next few hours. And silence filled the air around her as she continued her way. Alex's gun firmly stuck between her belt; even though Taylor had practiced with her a few times, after they found ammunition in an empty farmhouse, yet Anne didn't really know how to use it well. She never shot a walker with it, but she merely kept it, just in case. Instead she had found a marine's backpack in the passenger side of a hummer. And she had taken the spare boots, a dagger and the clothes; the clothes didn't fit her, but she passed them along to Dave who had great fully made us of it. The boots were a small bit too big, but were safer than the sneakers and the dagger was a nice contribution next to her two other knifes.

She stopped walking as she was near a road, and placed her backpack on the ground to fetch some water from it. Her throat felt dry.

A sudden click made her freeze, and she felt a gun pressed against the back of her head. She stared at the ground next to her backpack as her mind tried to catch up to the situation she found herself in. This was not a walker.

_This was definitely __**not**__ a walker._

"Stand up" a man called out and Anne did as she was asked, staring at her knife that lay on the ground next to her bag. She wasn't able to pick it up fast enough now, and the other knifes rested in the side pocket of her backpack. She wanted to curse but bit her lip instead.

"Kenny, what are you doing?" another voice came in sounding slightly upset with this Kenny guy.

"Turn around" Kenny ordered and Anne did as she was told, slowly.

The man holding a shot gun in her face had a mustache and an old baseball cap. There was another black man standing behind him, looking at Anne from head to too.

"Who are you?" Kenny asked staring her in the eyes. Anne felt uncomfortable and she continued to bite her lip nervously, glancing from Kenny to the black guy and back.

"Anne." She said softly "Who are you?"

"We're Lee and Kenny" the black man spoke up stepping forward and pushing Kenny's shotgun down, much to Kenny's displeasure. "Don't mind us, we were looking for someone" Lee explained to her. "But you don't seem to be that one"

Anne nodded her head in confusion looking at Kenny who continued to glare at her suspiciously.

"Where you come from all of a sudden?" he asked her.

"I-I'm scouting ahead. My friends… They're a while back… I'm trying to pinpoint our location so we can head to Atlanta" Anne honestly explained looking at Lee who she already decided was the nicest one of the two.

"What kind of business you got in Atlanta?" Kenny continued to harass her with questions and Anne felt the discomfort crawl back onto her back. "Atlanta… It's safe there, yeah?" Kenny snorted sarcastically, almost chuckling as he now lowered his gun completely. "Atlanta's run over long ago, Anne" Lee told her than and Anne felt her heart sink. "They bombed it and everything" Kenny continued this time did chuckle lightly.

"Just north east from here, there's Macon, but that is one shit hole as well. We're situated between Columbus, Albany and Dothan." Kenny continued explained pointing in different directions as he named the largest best known places surrounding them.

"The best bet would've been Fort Benning but we've heard that's been overrun already, too." He said "We've got a camp close from here, and someone's been stealing our supplies…." He scanned her and her backpack and seemed to decide in that quick second that she wasn't who they were searching for. "Haven't seen any humans close by have you?"

Anne shook her head. "It's been reasonably calm" she said and shrugged her shoulders. She still was trying to digest the information she was given, even though it made her feel sick to her stomach. It made her want to drop down to her knees in complete desperation, wanting to curl up in a ball and cry, cry until there were no tears left. Atlanta had been the one place she had been holding on to, and even if it had been, by a small chance, overrun there was always fort Benning. But had they been truly honest with themselves shouldn't they have known it was possible? New Orleans had been overrun, Texas…. Why not Atlanta?

"Are you alright?" Lee asked her as he noticed her pale complexion and her miserable stare which bore into a tree behind the two men. Her brown eyes seemed completely empty as they settled on his. "I don't know" she admitted. "Atlanta and Fort Benning… We traveled from Jackson Mississippi, everything was overrun there to…. I thought there had to be some place safe…."

"There's nothing left, Anne" Kenny told her quietly suddenly feeling sorry for the woman, whose desperate eyes spooked his soul. "we're real sorry"

"I need to get back to my group" Anne said, realizing they had a right to get the information as fast as possible too, even though she had no idea what it meant to them as a group right now.

"Are you sure? It'll probably get dark by the time you get there" Lee worriedly asked her as both men watched her pulling up her backpack. Her dagger flashed in the beaming sunlight but it didn't look so threatening now anymore as Anne only reminded them of a small deer that just lost its mother.

Anne nodded her head. "I better get to them as quickly as possible" she said resolutely trying to force her mind to concentrate on a new, very important objection. "I really do"

She walked passed them resolutely and missed the glance both men were giving each other before Lee spoke up. "Listen, if you guys need a place to stay, we've got a motel little further west… We've got a few beds left" Anne smiled at him. She already appreciated the offer, even though she'd never be sure if she'd take him up on it, it was a nice thought that someone was looking out for her either way.

"Thanks… Take care" Anne said and started making her way back to her group, whose chances of survival seemed to slim with every passing hour.


	6. Guilt is the source of sorrows

**_Review! Please! I beg of you.  
>And I need a BETA reader. I'm getting sick and tired of all the mistakes I keep finding even after severe editing. <em>**

Chapter 6 – _Guilt is the source of sorrows_

It took a lot of her to continue walking. She felt drained; emotionally. She just heard that there was nowhere safe left anymore. Did this mean there was no government? There was no police? No army? Nothing anymore? How in the hell was that even possible?

She was exhausted by the time she finally found the red car Taylor had been wanting to get running. She stared at it from her spot for a moment, gathering her confidence so she could give them the news… Suddenly she wondered if Ruth, Dave and Leona would be able to survive if this was really their life now. Would they even want to? Did she want to?

The dead walking around; was this the apocalypse so many people were concerned about. She used to laugh at them fanatics who would actually prepare for something like this. They all had their different visions on what would happen to the world, but no matter which way you'd turn, they had better survival odds than she ever had now.

She suddenly noticed the lack of activity surrounding the car. It had started to get dark. Perhaps they took shelter in the car.

She stepped out of hiding and walked forwards. There was no one. The car appeared empty. Her frown deepened as she stood in front of the car, looking around her in confusion, but finding none of her group. What had happened? Taylor wouldn't be so stupid to actually wander around away from the car right? He'd search for food and water, while leaving Leona, Dave and Ruth in the car. He wouldn't abandon their only chance for a running vehicle.

She opened the passenger door en looked inside, wondering if she'd find anyone in there. Perhaps some herd had passed and they were hiding underneath the seats. But there was no one.  
>She closed the door harshly and she flinched at the noise herself. Not the best thing to do when surrounded by dangerous walkers and without knowing where the hell her group was.<p>

Suddenly she felt eyes on her from behind and she turned around quickly, watching a walker stumbling her way. A small moan left its lips and it was rather fresh. Fresh enough for her to recognize who it was…

Stumbling towards her was none other than _Leona_.

Her blood turned cold as she stared at Leona.

_Leona_.  
>Completely naked, wearing nothing but a purple sock on her right foot. She continued her way towards Anne, who, in turn, took a few steps back. Her hand shook as she held her dagger loosely… Somehow Anne knew she had to take the girl out but it seemed harder than all before; this one had an identity. She knew this one.<p>

"What the…" she muttered as she watched the girl fall over two boxes filled with cans that had been standing behind the car, which Anne never noticed. She watched as Leona stood up with difficulty.

Two bullet wounds; one between her breasts and one on the right side of her belly.

Bullet wounds.

What the _hell_ happened here?

Suddenly Leona stood in front of her. The smell of death spreading around, making Anne realize; Leona was gone, this was just another walker.  
>Anne pushed her away once, Leona being petite little girl made that easy for her. And as Leona fell to the ground, the back of her head crashed against the ground. But before she could get up Anne pushed a knife through her temple, watching as every bodily function stopped working.<p>

"What happened here?" Anne asked herself as she sat next to Leona on her knees, staring down at the beautiful girl. Sure, Anne hadn't been particularly fond of her, but she didn't wish this upon her. Besides; every survivor at this point was at least one more.  
>"Why are you naked?" she asked softly to no one while pushing her eyelids close, as though it would change the situation somehow. As though she showed her some form of respect which her murders hadn't showed her.<p>

She stood up resolutely, remembering that there were three more people she had not found yet, and she was determined to see them, whether they were dead or alive. She had to move fast if she wanted a chance of finding them. She chewed her bottom lip staring at the body of what once was Leona. "I'm sorry" she muttered feeling regret and sorrow crawl up her spine. She should've been here. Whatever happened here; she should've helped.  
>"I didn't want this to happen to you… I'll come back… I'll find your parents and Taylor and we'll bury you"<p>

After she took her eyes off of Leona she looked at the side of the car, noticing the holes, obviously coming from bullets. She hadn't noticed it before. Why hadn't she noticed that before? There were at least three.  
>Empty bullet shells on the ground near the car, and her thoughts traveled to Taylor. He was alive right?<p>

She didn't know which way to go, as she stared along the dirt path, for something. There were tire tracks but they weren't unusual on this road. They could've come from any car.

Her breath stuck in her throat as she heard movement coming from between the bushes on the side of the road. For a moment she doubted whether to hold her dagger or get Alex's gun out. But after realizing Leona had been shot as well, she took her gun, and with light steps ran towards the car, sitting behind it with her gun in her hands.

Someone, or something stumbled from the woods and it was breathing heavily. Walkers didn't breath heavily and they didn't move as quickly. Her grip on her gun tightened as she waited for whatever it was to come closer.

"Leona!" a hoarse voice screamed, in completely and utter desperation. She quickly released the death grip on her gun stepping from behind the car and looking at Dave, whose pale, tear stained face stared back at her. He wore only his underwear and socks. He was dirtier than before.

"Anne" he whispered as he saw her standing there. "Where is she"

Anne pointed at the body behind her, and Dave started wailing, walking towards it and fell on his knees, crying and sobbing, his hands in front of his face.  
>It was then that Anne noticed a bite wound on his shoulder. She stared at it for the longest time. She never met someone that had been bitten and was unsure of what to do next. Was it dangerous to be bitten? She thought of the broadcasts; wasn't that what people were saying? You'd get bit and turn, than want to eat others. Getting bit isn't a good thing.<p>

"Dave" Anne's voice sounded dry and she knew she was thirsty but ignored it.  
>She sat down in front of him on the other side of Leona. "You're bit" her voice felt full of grief. Her mind was trying to catch up to what was happening. She didn't have any time to prepare. Suddenly her whole group seemed torn apart. Her only hope was Ruth and Taylor.<p>

Dave looked at her with empty eyes, in obvious shock as he didn't seem to register her presence or her words. "Dave" Anne tried again, staring into his eyes as she tried to connect with the man. "Dave, you're bit" Dave nodded his head frantically at that point, as his eyes seemed to fill itself back with life.

"Anne, 5 men came. Taylor tried protecting us to the best of his ability. Leona started running. Stupid, stupid girl, Taylor told her to stay put" he started crying again _"Taylor told her to stay put"_

"Dave, I need you to focus, what happened? Please Dave, you need to tell me what happened to Taylor and Ruth"

"They raped her" he then sobbed "They raped my little girl. Right in front of us. They beat up Taylor and then raped her!" Anne swallowed back a large lump in her throat. Her mouth hung open slightly as she stared at Leona mindlessly. The shock written all over Anne's face, still trying to process what was happening but the situation got more and more severe.

"Ruth begged them not to kill her. Begged them!... They didn't listen Anne, they are animals. Shot Anne twice"

"Where are they" Anne's voices sounded strangely calm, when her insides didn't feel calm at all. Panic shot through her heart and her brain kept trying to catch up to all this new information.

"They took us, that way. I was able to escape thanks to Taylor who regained consciousness and they forgot about me for a while. They almost had me, but then I got bit. They only laughed…. Just laughed at me and walked off…. They knew my faith would be sealed." Dave bit his lip, tears continuously falling from his eyes and Anne felt so sorry for the poor guy.

"I don't know where they took them" he admitted quietly

Anne tried to control her fear as she stared into the woods.  
>She knew there were two options. Run like a lunatic and be safe but alone. Or show her loyalty and at least try to get Ruth and Taylor out. Whatever they were planning on doing with them. Why would you keep people around? Ruth… Well Ruth was a woman. 5 men…. Her stomach turned at the thought of what they could be doing to her, but Taylor… Why did they need Taylor?<p>

"Go" Dave said "There's no saving them anymore… Save yourself"

Anne threw a disgusted look at him and shook her head. "Are you insane" she hissed "I couldn't live with myself knowing I left them behind"

"You'd do anything to get to safety" Dave repeated her words "Didn't you say that once? Life and death."

"That was when there was safety. When there was an Atlanta and Fort Benning. They don't exist anymore. They're run over" she bitterly threw at the man.

Dave laughed remorsefully, falling on his behind and placing both hands in the dirt beside him. "Well then, it's for the best I'm checking out early" he said and looked at Anne with what only could be described as crazy eyes. Anne felt herself getting slightly sick because of it, frowning at Dave at his sick moment.

"I'm gonna go get them" And she stood up after her words.

"I'm really sorry, for this. I should've stayed, should've helped you guys" her words were loaded with regret and guilt, which even Dave in his pitch black moment noticed. He looked up at her and shook his head, hissing a bit as the wound on his shoulder hurt. "You couldn't have stopped them, dear…. You couldn't have stopped them…. " he chuckled lightly while he continued "You were right all along. And we thought you were losing it"  
>"What do you want me to do…" she asked him uncomfortably as her eyes rested on the red and infected looking wound. Dave smiled at her and looked back at Leona. "Just leave me here Darling. I'll be fine, right here, with my little girl. You don't have to shoot me I won't ask that of you."<p>

Anne nodded her head, looking down at Dave who looked up at her in return.  
>"You've been amazing, Anne… Even if we didn't give you the credit back then, but you deserve all of it. Thank you, for everything. None of this is your fault. If you think about it….. How long were we to survive anyway, now that there's nowhere safe… we were bound to be dead sometime. You were right, they aren't alive… They are… what you call them? Walkers…. They aren't alive."<p>

Anne continued to stare at him as she tried to take his kind word to heart, but she couldn't really believe them. She could've done more; should've done more. And now here were two people dead…. Probably thanks to her bad decision making. How could she have expected Taylor to be able to defend the whole group. She should've been there.

She swallowed her lump and straightened her shoulders. She could be crying later, for now she should try and get to Taylor and Ruth…. Or whatever was left of them.

"Go…. Go get them" Dave ordered and with that Anne turned and walked in the direction Dave had come from before.


	7. One brave deed makes no hero

**gibina11748****I thank you bunch. She's my new Beta guys. I am so proud. My story's good enough it has a beta. Haha. **

**Other than that. I would really like to thank you for your reviews. Especially redskingirl. That was the longest review I've ever read. And I really enjoyed it. I love how you really think about my characters and give your opinions about how I choose to either end them or keep them in. Keep being so honest, even if it means being critical. If a chapter aint no good I want to know. **

**Btw… I didn't even know I had rated it teen. So thanks for that little tip. **

**Please keep reviewing! I love reviews! All the faves and followers are really nice too, but any time I see a new review I get all excited. And I love how everyone is so positive up to now. **

Chapter 7 – _One brave deed makes no hero_

"No, no…. No… Please don't!"

Even from the long distance she could hear Ruth's begging voice as she could make a figure dragging another figure along on its leg.

Ruth. What were they doing to her?

Her eyes scanned the people around the fire, in hopes of identifying Taylor but came up with nothing. The fire in the middle of the camp helped her see that there were three walking around by the tents. One was cooking up dinner near a large pole stuck in the ground. Which means there were either two more left if Dave's calculations were right, or there were more than those five. There were only four tents.

She had already been seated there for a while. Too afraid to do something. She held a death grip on her gun but no matter how she tried to talk some sense into herself, fear continued to freeze her on the spot.

Killing walkers was something she adapted to quick and easy. But humans with guns themselves…

Suddenly her heart stopped as she saw another body being dragged over the ground. She sat up a little staring at it. The size would be right for Taylor. But he seemed lifeless.

She had to suck it up. If she really was serious about wanting to save them, she'd _better_ suck it up.  
>She clenched her jaw as she made her way to the right, keeping as low to the ground as she possibly could. She decided her best bet was coming in from the right, there was more cover there from some bushes.<p>

It was very dark and she hoped she could use it to her advantage. She needed to try and keep her distance, she could never win if one of them saw her. She had no fighting skills, and she wouldn't be strong enough. But she had to try.

If she walked away, she would forever wonder about what would have happened if she at least tried.

A walker lurked her way once she rounded the corner and for a moment she felt fear taking over her heart, thinking it was one of those men. She held her breath as she tried to think what she should do, killing it would possibly blow her cover. She was hoping it wouldn't see her if she kept sitting behind the tree, but it noticed her anyway.

Just when she was about to step up and kill it, the proximity became closer than she found comfortable. She then heard footsteps coming from the other side of the tree.  
>A hand took a grip of the walker's shoulder and the man, she could now clearly see, killed it easily and quietly.<p>

She stared at the guy, who seemed tall and broad.

Her hands shook, she didn't dare move. He was facing her, all he had to do was look up and she'd be seen.

_Please, let it be dark enough… please, let it be dark enough…_

"Greg." She heard a heavy voice called out from behind her, but she didn't dare to turn around. She froze to the ground completely, all her muscles cramping up and her lip hurting from biting too hard on it.

"Yeah?" The guy responded and seemed to look over her completely.

_Don't… move_

Greg stared at his friend and who passed her on the other side of the tree, probably not noticing the woman who had curled up to the best of her abilities.  
>"Come on man, we gotta eat." The man informed Greg, who finally turned his back on her.<br>As they started to walk off she released a breath that she didn't know she had been holding. Relief washed over her as they vanished in the dark. She dropped to her butt, feeling tears forming in her eyes.

_Goddammit._

She never should have left! They could've moved together, they could've seen where they would end up and how far Atlanta would've been. She wanted to save them the walk in case they'd end up going the wrong way for the second time. But had it been really worth it?

She ran her hands over her sweaty face, what the fuck was she supposed to do, alone, with no experience in situations like this. She didn't have the guts like Alex, she didn't have the dead eye like Taylor. She was, even though it was weak to admit this, just a woman.

"Get the fuck up, Anne." She whispered to herself.

She stood back up, keeping as low to the ground as she could, and stepped out from behind the tree….

**_BAM!_**

She fell to the ground and stared up at the two men that had been talking previously. She felt dizzy and everything went black shortly after.

"Alex?" She whispered in utter confusion as she seemed to regain consciousness. His face was clear as day, right in front of her.

"Alex?" She muttered again. Wanting to move her hand towards his face but felt she couldn't move them. A hand blocked his face from her eyesight by slapping against her right cheek. It didn't take long for the panic to move back into her heart, as she felt her hands tied together, her wrists hurting as she kept pulling on whatever held them behind her back.

"Stupid ass bitch." Someone muttered above her and she stopped her struggles to look up for a moment. Greg stood above her. He looked even taller from this perspective. He stepped aside to make room for another man. He wasn't as tall, but the impression he gave her was way more terrifying. It was the way he carried himself, the way he looked at her with a small smile, the way he walked upright, the way everyone showed him respect.

This man knelt down in front of her. He stared into her brown eyes for a long moment, before chuckling and holding her chin in his rough hands. Her breath shook, she hated it. They could probably feel her fear, vibrating off of her.

He held her chin in his hand and even though Anne refused to look anywhere than into his threatening black eyes, he probably could feel her trembling jaw. "So you are the missing one." He muttered slowly, licking his lips. It was all he said to her before standing up.

"You want to keep her around?" He asked Greg, and a third man that had joined their small get together. Anne swallowed a large lump in her throat, and took her eyes off of them. She didn't want to hear the answer. She didn't want to know what was the hidden meaning behind those words. Why would they want to keep her around?

She suddenly thought of Ruth and Leona and knew the reason why they wanted to keep her around.

She looked to her left and to her right, trying to find a way out somehow. She could still run, her feet were free, even though she was forced to her knees, she could still jump up and run.

Suddenly she noticed a woman, huddled against the side of a tent. The light of the fire flickering over her nude frame as she shook of the cold probably and of shock.

_Ruth_

The woman stared at her with wide frightened eyes. She said nothing, just stared.  
>Anne stared back at her for the longest time, wondering why she didn't run. Ruth wasn't a survivor, Dave had said so himself, but right now, she had all the space in the world to just run. They were distracted by Anne's presence. Why didn't she run?<p>

Ruth seemed to know what she was thinking as tears started running down the woman's face and she shook her head repeatedly. She didn't want to run, or maybe she was too scared to.

Suddenly a pair of hands grabbed her from the armpit, lifting her up. She went limp completely, refusing to walk to where ever it was they were taking her. "Walk." The man ordered her but she ignored it. "Walk! Goddammit!" He kicked her leg and even though she felt it sting she didn't respond. She had a feeling that they'd be putting her through a lot worse soon.

Greg, who had been standing in front of her, waiting, stepped forward with a huff, taking the other arm and together they dragged her closer towards the fire.

She was dropped there as though she was just garbage, she sat up quickly, getting onto her knees, realizing that if the moment called for drastic measures she could always try and run.

"I don't know who she is." A familiar voice called out. It sounded slightly different but she recognized it as Taylor's like no other. She tried not to look up to quickly, but did anyway, and she couldn't stop the gasp that left her lips as she saw how beat up he was. His lips were cut severely, his eye blackened and a large bump on his jaw line. He looked horrible. She felt her heart growing heavy. Her eyes drowned in her tears, Taylor blurring in front of her.

"She seems to know you." Greg muttered as he noticed her response easily and once again Anne cursed herself. Taylor clenched his jaw in annoyance as he looked at the man. He was so brave.

"He your hubby, darlin'?" the other man asked her, looking at her.

Anne sniffed as she tried to keep in her sobs, her body shaking visibly now, her fear exposed. She shook her head as she looked at the ground. "I didn't hear ya. What is your relation with this man?"

He knelt down in front of him, much comparable to – what Anne assumed was the leader – had done before. He slapped her soft cheek repeatedly, the sound cutting through the silence.  
>"Ya sure you want to ignore me?" He asked. And if on cue, Greg took a gun out and cocked it against Taylor's head.<p>

Taylor clenched his jaw. Looking directly at Anne. He seemed fearless. As though he wasn't afraid to die. As if he already knew he was going to. Maybe he had been longing for it all along, so he could be with his wife in eternity.  
>She sniffed again. Feeling tears continue to slide down her cheeks.<p>

"He's my friend." she whispered hoarsely.

"But ya love him, right?" The man asked her and Anne nodded her head. "Enough to keep him alive, do ya?" He asked and she nodded her head again. "Cat got ya tongue now?"

He stood up after Anne refused to talk. Anne closed her eyes for a moment to try and catch her breath, to calm down, to start thinking clearly. But suddenly she felt someone grabbing her short hair, pulling her back harshly. Her eyes snapped open as she gave a small shriek in response, at the shock. She fell on her back roughly and she looked up to see the man from before, and another unknown blonde hovering above her.

"Don't you fucking touch her." she heard Taylor's rough voice say. He sounded threateningly but it wouldn't work in this situation. Greg laughed and patted him on his shoulder. Anne only then noticed he was tied to a pole in the ground; she had seen that pole before, but there hadn't been anyone tied to it.

She realized he was brought out especially for this occasion. She stared up at the two men and noticed instantly what their plan had been. Her bottom lip shook as the reality of the situation dawned on her, and she pushed her heels in the dirt, pushing herself away from them on her back, but it seemed to only humor them more as they laughed loudly at her attempts.

Looking to her left she still saw Ruth sitting against the tent, she wanted to beg her for help but she knew Ruth wouldn't be able to.

They grabbed her boots, pulled her back, and in one movement she lay on her stomach.

"Please don't." Anne muttered as her face was pushed into the dirt. She didn't know if she ever was more afraid in her life. Not even when she saw the first walker she'd ever seen in her life….


	8. Hold on a little bit more

**I'm so sorry for the delay. I've had internet/computer trouble. Fixed now obviously. Thank you for reading and please review. A special thanks to my beta reader gibina11748**

Chapter 7 – _Hold on a little bit more_

"Please… please" she tried, as she continued to cry pathetically. She stared at Taylor as though it would help her in some way, knowing he was there with her. But he didn't give up, he continued fighting, screaming at the top of his lungs as everything else moved in slow motion.

Just as Anne was about to give up, and let them open her belt buckle, she heard a woman's voice yell. In a way, like she was trying to push out all of the strength she had. And Anne felt the man falling off of her and immediately after that a gunshot rang through her ears.

She closed her eyes tightly for moment thinking she was shot; she wasn't particularly sure if she would hate the outcome of that right now, but she was afraid of feeling the pain.

Then, when she realized she felt alright, she opened her eyes, and was met with the lifeless body of Ruth. She lay on her stomach, her hands spread in a strange angle, with her head turned towards Taylor.

Blood pooled around her frozen frame and Anne knew, she just knew, she was dead. Ruth…. Weak Ruth, who had always been nothing but dead weight. Had given her life to free Anne from pain.

"Goddamnit!" Someone yelled and at this two men picked Anne up harshly, they threw her aside on her butt before turning towards their leader. Who had arrived - obviously responding to the sound of the gun.

Taylor looked from Ruth to Anne.

Anne was still staring at him with wide eyes as the conversation the other men were having was completely lost to her.

"Run." He mouthed to her.

Anne shook her head. She wasn't sure why she didn't want to run. Whether because she didn't want to leave him behind, or because she was too afraid to. Or maybe too sore, her head pounding in a regular beat reminding her that this was all very real.

"Run." he mouthed again and his eyes bored into her own. He was serious. But how could he expect her to do such a thing? If she ran now, she would have to wander this lifeless earth alone. Where was she to go?

"I'm bit." he suddenly said out loud.

She already dragged around the weight of the world. But even though she felt like shit, she wasn't ready to give into the unwillingness to live yet because she was certain she and Taylor would somehow walk away from this alive.

But with those words the world crashed onto her shoulders. Her tears had stopped falling. She could almost hear her heart break. Together they had been working so hard, to honor Alex by bringing Ruth, Dave and Leona to safety and they had lost them. And now this…

"You are what?!" Greg yelled at him and on cue the other men stopped talking, looking at Taylor as well.

"I was bit." Taylor looked up at him with a death glare. Anne wished she was as brave as he was.  
>He looked at Anne and his eyes said what he wanted her to do. Her breath shook as she sat up on her knees, waiting for all the men to stand around Taylor.<p>

There was no saving Taylor.

There was no saving Taylor.

_There was really no saving Taylor. _

She had to keep this on repeat as she started to get on her knees. She gave him one glance but Taylor was still yelling at the men that stood around him. Just as she was about to get up and run, she saw Ruth's hand move.

Was she still alive?

She couldn't leave Ruth as well, if she were to be alive, right? Where was she hit anyway, she could've survived somehow… A new spark of hope filled her and she stared at the body of Ruth as it stood up slowly.

Anne's mouth dropped as she realized Ruth had turned. She could hear it in her moans and she could see it on the pale skin with the dark blue veins.

She stared at the woman's back as she dragged her naked body towards the man closest to her. He didn't notice anything as Ruth slowly made her way closer and Anne knew this was her time to do something.

She stood up and softly walked backwards towards the tent.

At the moment she touched the metal tent spike with her hands behind her back, Ruth sunk her teeth in one of the men, who immediately started screaming which soon turned into a whole lot of weird sounding noises as she pulled out his esophagus.

Anne quickly pulled out the tent spike, and started sawing away at the rope around her wrist, to the best of her abilities. She had never done this before and she realized it wasn't an easy task.

Her gaze rested on the men as a plan formed in her head, still sawing away with the sharp metal tent spike.  
>She hissed suddenly as she cut her hand in the process but didn't give her any time to recompose, her heart beat quickening as she realized she felt the rope loosening itself around her wrists.<p>

"What the fuck!?" one of the men yelled and for a moment Anne thought someone had noticed her and her progress but instead another – one she had not seen before now – walked out from the woods and started with profanities. She could make out that Ruth's victim was his little brother.

"You promised me we'd be safe with you!" voice thick with hurt and grief, he pulled out his gun and pointed it at the leader who stayed rather calm.

Meanwhile Anne sighed a breath of relief as the rope fell from her wrist. She kicked it away with her legs, as close to the tent as possible in hopes no one would notice, while she held the tent pike in her hands, whom stayed behind her back.

She sat back on her knees, on her previous spot.

Staring at Ruth's walker body laying close to Taylor. Dead; yet it was unsettling to him. She could see it in his eyes. Still, after all this time, he found it hard to not think of walkers as people with a disease that would never come back.

One day she'd get the explanation to what had happened to these people, but she was so certain that they weren't alive anymore.

And then something sunk in.  
>While the men were yelling at each other, guns pointed at each other she suddenly realized something.<p>

Leona and Ruth were never bitten.

She licked her lips while her eyebrows fumbled in a frown.  
>The fear she was holding onto, her constant shaking stopped suddenly. Her mind running over the possibility that they were never bitten and thus never infected.<p>

Or were they?  
>How else would you turn?<p>

Another gun shot rang through the air loudly and Anne snapped back into reality. Her eyes staring at the leader who stood with his gun pointed in front of him. Just looking at this image of the man so surely of himself, his gun still pointed at the empty spot as his victim seemed to fall in slow motion, but he stayed calm; it almost seemed like a damn movie.

He calmly scraped his teeth over his bottom lip, running his gaze over all of his men as though he was confirming that no one would dare to fuck with him.

Only later did Anne realize that the man he had shot was Greg. And she wasn't sure why this was. She hadn't been worried about their troubles.

The leader simply walked off in silence with his puppy-dog still behind him. The two men left, turned towards the bodies on the ground, completely flabbergasted. The brother with the bit brother stared at his brother with a sadness that was too familiar to Anne. For whatever reason the leader shot Greg it must have been unexpected.

The brother started to drag the body of his late brother away, while the second man turned towards Anne as though he suddenly realized she was still there. He looked at her for a moment, before turning towards Taylor, who had been really quiet during the mess that had escalated quickly after his confession.

Taylor didn't even seem to notice Anne was still there, he just stared at Ruth and Greg who lay motionless on the ground.

The man sighed and walked towards Anne. His steps seemed to vibrate through her body. Something else came over her at that moment. As she looked around and saw no one else present. She didn't know how many times she would have, or if she would even succeed, but she had to try, she had no other choice.

"Get up." he muttered to Anne, taking her left elbow and pulling on it lightly. Before she could even process what her limbs were doing they had already reacted. Her right hand flew, with the spike in it, to the man's neck, and without a second of hesitation she pushed to sharp tool into the soft tissue around his neck.

This man was no walker. She could feel it in the way his hands were warm when he grabbed her shoulder, she could feel it in the blood that sprayed over her clothes, face and arms, when she had hit the coronary artery. It was less sticky and this was a bright color of red instead of the old brown blood.

Yet there was not a moment of hesitation as the man dropped to the ground. Not for a single second did she think about the life she just took. Instead she bend down and quickly patted his jeans in search for his gun…


End file.

Walking Dead, Adventure, Romance